Pipe attachment



.Febo 1mg E942. N1, P, NEY @72,472

PIPE ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. fav; 1940 Patented Feb. 1, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Norbert I. Ney, Milwaukee, Wis. Application January 27, 1940, serial Nn. 315,967

1 Claim.

This invention relates to pipes and more particularly refers to a. cleaning attachment for pipes.

As is well known, pipe smokers experience considerable difficulty in emptying the smoked or partly smoked contents of the pipe. This difficulty is due to the fact that the heel, which is that part of the tobacco remaining in the bowl when a pipe full of tobacco has been smoked, invariably becomes moist and soggy and adheres tightly to the bottom of the bowl.

It has been common practice to rap the bowl of the pipe smartly against a Stationary object to empty the contents thereof. This procedure frequently results in serious damage to the bowl of the pipe as it oftentimes cracks or chips the bowl at its rim.

'Ihe accumulation of the carbohaceous deposit on the wall of the bore in the bowl produced by the burning of the tobacco also hinders proper emptying of the heel, as partly burned or soggy particles of the tobacco adhere more readily to such a cake.

Thus it is not uncommon for pipe tsmokers who value their pipes to insert a iinger in the bowl of the pipe for the purpose of loosening the unsmoked heel whenever the situation demands a loosening of the heel. This obviously safeguarded the pipe against damage resulting from hammering of the bowl` to loosen the heel, but was clearly unsanitary.

This procedure is also impossible when the bore in the bowl becomeswso choked or caked with carbonaceous deposit as"to make the insertion of a iinger or even the average knife blade out of the question.

The present invention, therefore, has as its primary object the provision of a cleaning attachment for pipes to facilitate the removal of its partly smoked contents or heel without necessity for hammering the pipe or soiling of the lingers. f

More particularly, this invention has as one of its objects the provision of a cleaning attachment adapted to be secured in the bowl of any pipe, which has a portion rotatable adjacent to the wall of 'the bore in the bowl to effect loosening of the bowl contents and to prevent excessive caking of the bore.

.A further object of this invention is the provision of a pipe cleaning attachment of the character described which is provided with means to prevent clogging of the pipe. Y

Another object of this invention resides in providing a cleaning attachment of the character described with means by which caused to burn uniformly.

A further` object of this invention 'resides in the provision of a cleaner of the character described which may be installed in any pipe and is readily removable for cleaning.

Another object of this invention resides in the provision of a cleaning attachment of the character described which has parts inside and outsideV the bowl of the pipe and which is made entirely of metal for quick conduction of heat from the bore ,of the pipe to the exterior thereof to provide cooler smoking conditions.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, this inthe tobacco is -vention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described and more particularly deiined by the appended claim, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the herein disclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claim.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one complete example of the physical embodiment of the invention constructed in accordance with the best mode so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

Figure 1 is a top view of a pipe equipped with the attachment of this invention;

Figure 2 is aside elevational view of the pipe shown in Figure l with portions of the bowl broken away and insection to more clearly illustrate the application of the attachment of this invention to a pipe; and

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the component parts of the attachment disassembled and in their proper order of assembly.

Referring now particularly to the accompanying drawing, in which like numerals indicate like parts, the numeral 5 designates a conventional pipe having a stem 6, only a portion of which is shown, and having a bowl 1, connected with the stem, in which a bore 8 is provided to receive tobacco. The stem 6 is also provided with a bore 9 communicating with the bore 8 near its bottom.

n The `cleaning attachment of this invention, indicated generally by the numeral I0, is adapted to be clamped to the bottom of the bowl of the pipe so that a portion thereof is disposed inside the bowl, and a portion exteriorly of the bowl. For this purpose the bowl is provided with a hole I2 extending centrally through the bottom thereof.

'I'he body or supporting element ofthe cleaningattachment comprises a stud I3 which has its lower end Il itting in and extending through the hole I2 to project from the bottom of the bowl. The lower end of the stud is threaded as at I5 to receive a sealing nut I6 exteriorly of the bowl, whereby the Wall of the bowl at the bottom of the bore may be lclamped between the nut I6 and an enlargement or shoulder I1 on the central portion of the. stud to securely removably hold the stud in place on the bowl.

The upper end of the stud inside the bore is provided with a disc-like flange I8 extending crosswise of the bore 8 and of. a size to substantially ilt the bore a distance from its bottom so as to be above the juncture of the bores 8 and 9.'

The disc-like ilange I8 is provided with a plurality of holes I9 adjacent to its peripheral edge by means of which the portions of the bore separated by the ilange are communicated with each other and with the bore of the stem 9. The flange I 8 thus constitutes a floor or grate upon which the tobacco to be burned in the pipe rests as the pipe is smoked.

It is readily apparent from Figures 1 and 2 that the holes I9, which are adjacent to the peripheral e'dge of the flange or grate I8, are also closely adjacent to the cylindrical, side wall of the bore, and as the holes are preferably equispaced from each other as shown, the draft through the grate when the pipe is smoked will be confined to that portion of the bore adjacent to the cylindrical wall thereof.

When the draft is confined in this manner, it is apparent that the load of tobacco in the pipe will be burned more uniformly, and objectionable burning of the tobacco down through the center of the load will be precluded. The taste of the tobacco will therefore not be impaired.

To prevent soiling the fingers or damaging the pipe bowl when it is desired to discharge its partly burned contents, means are provided for loosening the load or heel of the pipe so as to facilitate its removal. To this end a stripper member 2i is employed..

The stripper member 2l comprises a central stem 22 rotatably journalled in a bore 23 in the stud I3 on the longitudinal axis of the` stud and bore 8. 'Ihe stem is of such length as to project from the bottom of the stud .and its sealing nut I E and its projecting end is threaded as at 24 for a purpose to be later described.

The upper end of the stem which projects from the bore 23`at the center of the top face of the grate I8 has anangular arm connected thereto, one portion 25 of which extends at right angles to the stem so as to lie horizontally on the top face of the grate a distance substantially equal to the radius of the grate. The other angular portion 26 is connected to the outer free end of the arm 25 adjacent to the wall of the bore 8 and extends substantially upright along the wall of the bore to a point near the rim of the bowl. If desired, the stripper portion 26 may be positioned against the wall of the bore in the pipe as shown and inasmuch as the stripper member is rotatable on the longitudinal axis of the bore 8, it follows that rotation of the stripper member will cause the stripper portion 26 to be carried around inside the bore to scrape the'walls thereof and loosen any tobacco or carbon adhering thereto.

The stripper portion 25 during such rotation scrapes the top of the grate I8, and loosens any tobacco which has become caked thereon. It is therefore apparent that one complete revolution of the stripper member, or more if desired, quickly effects loosening and facilitates emptying of the heel in the pipe. Thus soiling of the ngers in attempts to loosen the tobacco which frequently becomes lodged in the bottom of the bowl of the pipe is precluded as well as the possibility of chipping or cracking the bowl during attempts to jar the tobacco loose.

To provide for the rotation of the stripper member from the exterior of the bowl, a knurled thumb nut 28 is threaded onto its lower end portion 24 so as to bear lightly against the sealing nut I5. Rotation of the stripper member is effected, therefore, by turning the thumb nut 28 in a clockwise direction as viewed from the bottom of the bowl. The thumb nut 28 also serves to detachably hold the stripper member 2I assembled with the grate and its supporting stud I3.

It is preferable to form all of the parts of the cleaning member ID out of metal having good heat conducting qualities. If all of the parts are of metal as shown, the smoke is cooled in passing through the grate to the bore 9 in the stem, as the metal cleaning member quickly conducts heat from the interior of the bowl to the exterior where it is dissipated to the atmosphere by means of the thumb nut 28.

The thumb nut 28 not only provides a convenient actuator on the outside of the pipe for rotating the stripper member, but aids in supporting the pipe in an upright position as shown in Figure 2. The head of the thumb nut, which is of substantial size, is flattened as at 30 to suplport the pipe in an upright position on the mouthpiece of the pipe (not shown) and the flat surface 30 of the nut.

This is possible due to the fact that the thumb nut projects from the bottom of the bowl which preferably is counterbored as at 3| so that part of the thumb nut may lie within the exterior of the pipe.

The cleaning attachment of this invention is readily installed in any pipe by inserting the stud I3 into the open end of the bore in the pipe and through the hole I2 so that its enlarged shoulder Il abuts the bottom of the bore. The sealing nut may then be threaded onto the lower end of the stud to removably secure the stud and its grate in position in the bore.

The stripper member 2| is then inserted in the bore 23 of the stud and held assembled by threading the actuator or thumb nut 28 to its lower end which projects from the sealing nut.

Obviously, studs having larger or smaller grates may be employed wherever necessary in pipes having bores of different sizes, or the grate and stud may be provided with a detachable connection to allow the application of different sized grates to a standard size stud.

In addition, the opstanding stripper portion 26 of the stripper member may be readily adjusted by bending at its junction with the portion 25 so as to extend at the same angle as the wall of the bore in the pipe in which it is installed.

It is also to be noted that when once assembled with the pipe, the cleaning attachment forms a part of the pipe and need only be removed for cleaning.

'I'he holes I9 in the grate, in addition to providing even draft for the pipe for uniform smoking conditions, also serve as drains to conduct any moisture from the tobacco as it is burned to the bottom of the bowl where it is trapped.

The grate, therefore, substantially eliminates the soggy heel which accompanies smoking in pipes not provided with a grate and eliminates waste of tobacco as the heel may be smoked down to the grate. Clogging of the pipe is also prevented by the grate as the particles of tobacco are kept from entering the bore 9 in the stem From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it will be readily apparent that this invention provides a cleaning attachment for pipes which is simple in construction b." which operates to efdciently aid the smoker in emptying his pipe and which provides for cooler and more uniform smoking conditions while substantially eliminating the clogging eiects of soggy heels.

What I claim as my invention is:

In combination with a pipe having a bored bowl: a iiat topped grate disposed crosswise in the bore, and of a size to occupy substantially the full diameter of the bore at a point adjacent to but spaced from the bottom of the bore, said grate having a plurality of holes therein so disposed as to be adjacent to the wall of the bore, and providing for communication between the portions of the bore at each side of the grate;-

n 1 eans readily removably securing the grate in the bore including, a hollow shouldered stem projecting centrally from the underside of the grate through a small opening provided in the bottom wall of the bowl, and a nut threaded on the exterior of the stem to clamp the wall of the bowl between said shoulder and the nut; a stripper top of the grate, and an upstanding portion connected to the outer end of the arm adjacent to 

